This invention relates to packaging, and in particular, to a tray for use in the packaging, transport and/or storage of nail packs.
In order to expedite the nailing process in construction, a nail gun is often used to replace the conventional hammer. A nail gun utilizes pneumatic or hydraulic pressure to drive a nail into a predetermined location. Since nail guns have the ability to perform this process very quickly, nails must be continuously fed into the nail gun.
Nail packs have been designed to facilitate the rapid feeding of nails into the nail gun. The nail pack consists of a plurality of nails interconnected linearly by one or more wires to form a "string" of nails. In order to transport the "string", the attached nails are rolled into a donut-shaped pack. These nail packs are then packaged for shipment and/or storage.
Heretofore, trays have been used to support the nail packs during transport and/or storage. Typically, these prior art nail trays are constructed from materials such as molded fiber, expanded polystyrene, or the like. However, it has been found that prior art trays for nail packs lack sufficient strength to support the nail packs during transport and storage.
Further, nail packs are typically deposited on the nail trays by a nail pack depositing mechanism as the nail trays are conveyed along a conveyor belt. It is highly desirable to increase the rate at which the nail packs are deposited on the tray. This, in turn, requires a simple and inexpensive means for detecting the position of a nail tray relative to the nail pack depositing mechanism.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide a nail tray for the transport and/or storage of nail packs which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is a still object and feature of the present invention to provide a nail tray for the transport and/or storage of nail packs which provide sufficient support for the nail packs during transport and/or storage.
It is a still further object and feature of the present invention to provide a nail tray for the transport and/or storage of nail packs which incorporates a simple inexpensive mechanism for facilitating the depositing of the nail packs thereon.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.